It took us 32 hours of travel from Washington DC, with an overnight
layover in Doha, Qatar, to get to the capital of Romania, Bucharest. It was past
noon of September 9, 2017 (although our body clocks was still probably hanging
somewhere else) when we were stamped in at Henri Coandă International Airport (IATA
code: OTP) in Otopeni.
Slightly disoriented, we were glad to find our pre-arranged transport
waiting for us at the exit with a small placard bearing our name. With the exhaustion
that comes with a long haul flight, we were not in any form to navigate this new
city’s transport options. Out of the freezer that is the plane and airport and
with our slept in travel clothes, the noonday sun beats forcefully down on us
and we were glad to escape the heat at the back of the air-conditioned car.
For over half an hour, our driver sped and weaved in and out
of traffic and we were soon deposited at our hotel right in the city center very
close to Gara de Nord.
After a quick lunch of sandwiches and pasta at the hotel lobby
and a hot bath, we were feeling more like ourselves but still chose to just laze
away our first day luxuriating on the fluffy bed. Our stomachs demanded proper
nourishment come night fall and we were rested enough so we stepped out with the
intent to find our first meal and as a way of introduction to this new city.
The first meals as the first menus in a foreign country
gets us excited!
It's like cracking open a new book of delicious read.
That quick meal turned into hours long dinner and drinks with
live traditional entertainment followed with waltzing at the most historical restaurant
and beer museum in Bucharest.
It almost felt like stepping back in time of old world glam with
the ornate Belle Epoque surrounding and this beautifully preserved establishment
has been serving Romanian dishes since 1879.
TIP: Reservations recommended or walk in super early and maybe
you'll get lucky to nab a table.
Full from a great traditional Bucovina meal of sausages, pork
confit, polenta and slightly drunk from the mimosa, I was pulled to the dance floor
of the historic Caru cu Bere to waltz & twirl my jet lag away.
To be welcomed with delicious dinner in a beautiful historic
building followed with dancing are the kind of moments that reminds us why we
take long tiring flights across continents.
